> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andy Higginbottom [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 17 January 2002 10:20
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: WOMEN AND COMMUNTIES MOBILISE - SINTRAEMCALI OCCUPATION
> Eyewitness No 3 L2
>
>
> SINTRAEMCALI OCCUPATION  Eyewitness Update Number 3
>
> Women and Communities Mobilise
>
> Outside the CAM Tower Cali, Colombia
> Wednesday 16th January
>
> Day 22 of the workers occupation of the CAM tower, and
> negotiations both
> official and unofficial go on inside and outside the building between
> the union, the mayor, and the government.  Meanwhile the
> regional Strike
> Command which was regrouped at the beginning of the occupation, and
> draws together representatives of trade union, social
> organizations, and
> community leaders, is meeting in earnest to plan actions and events of
> solidarity.  In the rural areas surrounding Cali, after a meeting
> yesterday, a joint statement has been issued by the community council
> leaders in support of the occupation and the struggle to defend public
> services.  In the poor neighborhoods community leaders are
> ready for the
> civic strike if and when it is called. In the University students are
> meeting to plan for a big conference tomorrow morning on "The
> crisis in
> Argentina and its effect on Cali - the Occupation of CAM". In
> the Navaro
> EMCALI plant SINTRAEMCALI worker delegates are meeting, and
> at 2pm there
> is a general workers assembly outside the occupation.  In the human
> rights department of SINTRAEMCALI we are busily preparing for a video
> conference between British trade union leaders and the
> occupying workers
> tomorrow, and dealing with the logistics and day to day
> issues that come
> up, and trying to keep all the different groups in contact with each
> other - a mammoth task which we are unable to fulfill, but
> are happy to
> die trying.
>
> I am waiting and hoping for the government to authorize my entry into
> the occupation, as a human rights observer.  After a meeting between
> Alexander the union president, and Berenice, a human rights
> activist and
> negotiator yesterday, they thought it would be a good idea to
> try to get
> me government authorization to get inside the occupation to talk about
> the international solidarity work that we are involved in, and do some
> worker education sessions to raise the spirits.  Popular
> education is in
> the background of everything that we do, and with the systematic
> elimination of trade union and social leaders, being carried out by
> parastate forces, the urgency of forming new leadership is
> ever present.
>
> Last night I spent the evening outside the occupation.  Things were
> fairly low key, and there was time to chat to some of the
> people outside
> the occupation who have put their lives on hold since December 25th.
> One of the community mothers, who look after children in the poorest
> neighborhoods, was telling me about the march that was called on the
> 11th of January, and how the Mayor had denied permission due to the
> delicate nature of the peace negotiations that were taking place that
> day.  More than 10,000 people marched from their
> neighborhoods, meeting
> up in the centre, and ending outside the occupation.  The most popular
> slogan of the day being "We will march with permission or without it,
> the Cali community is present, present, present" (it sounds better in
> Spanish).
>
> The march seems to have moved the process forward with both
> national and
> local government recognizing  that the support for
> SINTRAEMCALI and the
> struggle is building across the working class neighborhoods, the
> universities, and among the workers.  This is a vindication of the
> strategy of the union for several years, which has been that it is in
> the poor communities where the foundations to social change have to be
> built.  I have heard countless speeches from Alexander, the president,
> and Lucio, the vice president on trying to rebuild the social
> fabric of
> the society from below, not with fine words but with actions.  For the
> last 8 months they have been running ´Mingas´which in one of the local
> indigenous languages means something like ´to come together
> to carry out
> a specific task´.  In SINTRAEMCALI, and in alliance with other unions
> and social organizations, this has meant that every few weeks workers,
> doctors, nurses , lawyers, hairdressers all give up their weekends and
> go to the poorest neighborhoods and provide their services for free:
> fixing electricity lines, telephones, giving free medical treatment,
> legal advice, haircuts and a whole range of activities.  It
> has become a
> carnival of solidarity, and has generated a process of trust
> between the
> unions and the communities: the marches, the support, and
> hopefully the
> victory are products of this work, and it is a lesson that we on the
> left in Britain can learn from.
>
> Moving back into the workers kitchen, I am becoming increasingly aware
> that those who are feeding the occupying workers are fulfilling many
> more duties then that.  Some have also become important negotiators
> between the police and the union, smoothing over disputes, and calming
> the situation.  They have been living side by side with the police for
> 22 days now, and some friendships have sprung up, with a few police
> becoming new allies to the cause.  The young recruits have much in
> common with the workers, and they and their families will be equally
> effected if prices of services go up,  with many well aware of the
> brutality of the economic policies being pushed through.  These new
> recruits to the cause are now helping the union in many
> interesting ways
> - will let you know after.
>
> Finally, a few words on the new fashion items emerging amongst the
> activists; Baseball caps, T-Shirts, and even kitchen aprons with "2nd
> Occupation of the CAM tower" written across them, all money need I say
> is going to the occupation fund.  This is the time to be proud of our
> class, for it is fighting back with dignity and imagination.
>
> Mario Novelli will be speaking immediately on his return from Colombia
> at
>
> 4pm Saturday 2nd February, CORAS Centre, 161 Lambeth Walk,
> London SE11.
>
> (nearest tubes Vauxhall or North Lambeth), the monthly meeting of the
> Colombia Solidarity Campaign.
>
>
> --
> Andy Higginbottom
> Co-ordinator Colombia Solidarity Campaign
>